Umami Ginger Pork Bowls
with Pickled Cucumber & Sriracha Crema
- Sesame
- Soy
- Wheat
- Milk
This hearty bowl highlights Asian-inspired umami flavors and centers around ground pork browned and simmered in a savory miso-based ginger sauce with nutty sesame seeds. There’s also crisp quick-pickled cucumbers, tender sautéed cabbage and carrots, and spicy crema, all served over fluffy rice. And believe it or not, it’s ready on the table in just 20 minutes (or approximately 7 K-pop songs).
Ingredients
½ cup
Jasmine Rice
2 unit
Scallions
5 teaspoon
White Wine Vinegar
1 unit
Cucumber
4 ounce
Red Cabbage and Carrot Mix
10 ounce
Ground Pork
1 tablespoon
Sesame Seeds
(Contains: Sesame)
4 ounce
Umami Ginger Sauce
(Contains: Soy, Wheat)
3 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
1 teaspoon
Sriracha
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
½ teaspoon
Sugar
2 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
1 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce. • In a small pot, combine rice, ¾ cup water (1½ cups for 4 servings), and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a low simmer. Cook until rice is tender, 15-18 minutes. • Keep covered off heat until ready to serve. • Meanwhile, trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens.
• In a medium bowl, combine half the vinegar (you’ll use the rest later), ½ tsp sugar (1 tsp for 4 servings), and a pinch of salt. • Trim ends from cucumber. Using a peeler, shave cucumber lengthwise into ribbons, rotating as you go, until you get to the seedy core; discard core. Stir cucumber ribbons into bowl with vinegar mixture. • Set aside, tossing occasionally, until ready to serve.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in a large, preferably nonstick, pan over medium-high heat. Add cabbage and carrot mix; cook, stirring, until just tender, 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. • Transfer to a plate.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in same pan over medium-high heat. Add scallion whites; cook until fragrant, 1 minute. • Add pork* and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes. • Stir in half the sesame seeds (save the rest for serving) and remaining vinegar. Cook for 30 seconds, then stir in umami ginger sauce. • Bring to a simmer, then immediately turn off heat. Season with salt and pepper.
• While pork cooks, in a small bowl, combine sour cream with Sriracha to taste. Stir in water 1 tsp at a time until mixture reaches a drizzling consistency. Season with salt.
• Fluff rice with a fork; stir in 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings) and season with salt and pepper. • Divide rice between bowls; top with pork, cabbage and carrots, and pickled cucumber (draining first). Drizzle with Sriracha crema. Garnish with scallion greens and as many remaining sesame seeds as you like. Serve.
Ground pork is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 160°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Feb 2026- Flavor: Many loved the combination of flavors, especially the umami ginger sauce and pickled cucumbers adding brightness and contrast.
- Ease of prep: Quick and simple to make, though some found the cucumber ribbons tedious and time-consuming to prepare.
- Suggestions: Consider dicing or slicing the cucumber instead of ribbons for easier eating and prep; some preferred adding more carrots or spice.
- Portions: Several mentioned wanting more rice to balance the meat and vegetable quantities.
- Texture: Some enjoyed the contrasting textures, while others found the cucumber ribbons awkward or slimy.
Reviews from our home cooks
The boys absolutely love this dinner. The Sriracha Crema isn't too hot and spicy and the pickled cucumber balances it out totally. The cabbage is too much for my mom and I, but we can just leave that out. Excellent all around.
I like the cucumber addition. Added green onions. This was a very good recipe. I make my own umami sauce but would be nice if you provided recipe for it.
Easy to cook, but the umami ginger sauce was a little too spicy for me.
Needed more carrots with the cabbage. I added soy sauce, sesame oil, and sriracha to the cucumbers and diced them thinly like chips. Other than that followed the recipe, and loved it.
Too many pans/dishes to clean after, not enough rice, fussy recipe but very tasty! I used my spiralizer to make pickled cucumber!
This is one of our favorites--while not technically bulgogi, it's very similar to the bulgogi bowls. We especially love the pickled cucumber!
Got a lot of food with this one. Couldn't finish my bowl. Pork flavor was great. Could use more carrots or an additional flavor to the cucumber -It was a little bland.
Loved this, but the title is misleading, as this is more of a sweet profile, and there is little to no umami flavor in this dish.
This has been my favorite meal to date. I love the combination of the vinegar cucumbers with the ginger pork.
Loved the combo of pickled cucumber, sweet-ish pork, spicy sriacha and crunchy cabbage. Bada bing!
